White Sox

The contrast couldn't have been any more glaring from the first inning Thursday night at U.S. Cellular Field. Chicago White Sox starter Edwin Jackson threw 12 of his first 13 pitches for strikes and struck out five of the first seven hitters he faced. Orioles starter Jake Arrieta missed the strike zone with eight of his first 13 pitches, walked three batters in the first inning and needed 35 pitches to get the first three outs. Things never got much better for Arrieta, whose night was over after four rocky innings, or for the Orioles, who dropped another series with an 8-0 loss to the White Sox in front of an announced 23,898.

The Orioles lost three of four against the White Sox in Chicago during their 4-11 start in April and haven't seen them since. While the Orioles have recovered to turn this into a respectable season, the White Sox have gone in the other direction. They led the American League Central on May 25 but have gone 17-32 since then and enter today trailing the Minnesota Twins by 11 games. The Orioles had no answer for White Sox leadoff man Kenny Lofton in April. In that four-game series at Comiskey Park, Lofton reached base 12 of the 16 times he came to the plate.

It was a costly base-running error by the Chicago White Sox's Gordon Beckham in the fifth inning Tuesday night that helped Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie escape a bases-loaded-and-one-out jam while giving up only one run. Two innings later, it was one swing by Beckham that ruined Guthrie's night and made what has long been a formality into reality for the Orioles. Beckham broke a seventh-inning tie with a three-run homer to center, pushing the White Sox to a 7-5 victory in front of an announced 26,263 at U.S. Cellular Field and clinching the Orioles' 13th straight losing season.

The education of left-hander Brian Matusz has hit plenty of speed bumps in his rookie season, but there are signs that he's starting to figure it out. For proof, manager Buck Showalter pointed to the seventh inning of the Orioles' 4-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday night in front of an announced 23,733 at U.S. Cellular Field. His pitch count at 98 heading into the inning and with the bullpen getting ready, Matusz fought back from a 2-0 count to retire cleanup hitter Paul Konerko on an infield pop-up.

It started with Jeremy Guthrie five days earlier in Game 1 of the Buck Showalter era, and it continued with him Sunday as the Orioles orchestrated another quality win against one of baseball's hottest teams. Under Showalter, the Orioles are getting more clutch hits, playing tighter defense and paying more attention to the little things that had cost them game after game the previous four months. But the primary reason they are winning and no longer look like a pushover is that their starting rotation is on a run the likes of which the Orioles haven't experienced in some time.

Orioles fans, pinch yourselves. It is just four days until the calendar turns to September and your team is just 3 1/2 games out of first place in the American League East, the O's smallest deficit in the division since June 24. If they remain steady this week against the Chicago White Sox, they can chip into that lead even more this weekend in the Bronx. Take a deep breath. As you wake up today, after the Orioles' 4-3 comeback win over the White Sox, they are tied for the two AL wild card spots with the Oakland Athletics.

Chicago took three of four from the Tampa Bay Rays this past weekend in a playoff rematch and has won six of its past eight games. Outfielder Carlos Quentin has picked up where he left off before he was injured last year as he leads the majors with seven home runs. He has homered in three straight games for the first time in his career. A.J. Pierzynski is one homer shy of 100 for his career. Right-hander Bobby Jenks has been one of the most effective closers in the American League since the start of the 2006 season, saving 114 games.

CHICAGO - The Orioles made their way west Thursday evening riding the momentum of having won their first two road series of the season, heading to Anaheim for the last leg on their three-city, 10-game road trip. Anyone who suggested the Orioles would leave winners of five of their first seven games of the trip would have be deemed optimistic, but their play away from Camden Yards over the past week has the team sitting pretty atop the American League East at 8-5. The Orioles' 5-3 win over the White Sox on Thursday afternoon at U.S. Cellular Field gave them three wins in four games here on Chicago's South Side, before traveling to Anaheim for three games against the Angels.